Weak Genetic Structure in Northern African Dromedary Camels Reflects Their Unique Evolutionary History

Cherifi, Youcef Amine; Gaouar, Suheil Bechir Semir; Guastamacchia, Rosangela; El-Bahrawy, Khalid Ahmed; Abushady, Asmaa Mohammed Aly; Sharaf, Abdoallah; Harek, Derradji; Lacalandra, Giovanni Michele; Saïdi-Mehtar, Nadhira; Ciani, Elena;

Abstract


Knowledge on genetic diversity and structure of camel populations is fundamental for sustainable herd management and breeding program implementation in this species. Here we characterized a total of 331 camels from Northern Africa, representative of six populations and thirteen Algerian and Egyptian geographic regions, using 20 STR markers. The nineteen polymorphic loci displayed an average of 9.79 ± 5.31 alleles, ranging from 2 (CVRL8) to 24 (CVRL1D). Average He was 0.647 ± 0.173. Eleven loci deviated significantly from Hardy-Weinberg proportions (P<0.05), due to excess of homozygous genotypes in all cases except one (CMS18). Distribution of genetic diversity along a weak geographic gradient as suggested by network analysis was not supported by either unsupervised and supervised Bayesian clustering. Traditional extensive/nomadic herding practices, together with the historical use as a long-range beast of burden and its peculiar evolutionary history, with domestication likely occurring from a bottlenecked and geographically confined wild progenitor, may explain the observed genetic patterns.


Other data

Title Weak Genetic Structure in Northern African Dromedary Camels Reflects Their Unique Evolutionary History
Authors Cherifi, Youcef Amine; Gaouar, Suheil Bechir Semir; Guastamacchia, Rosangela; El-Bahrawy, Khalid Ahmed; Abushady, Asmaa Mohammed Aly; Sharaf, Abdoallah ; Harek, Derradji; Lacalandra, Giovanni Michele; Saïdi-Mehtar, Nadhira; Ciani, Elena
Issue Date 2017
Publisher PUBLIC LIBRARY SCIENCE
Journal PloS one 
DOI e0168672
1932-6203
1
https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/85010028273
12
10.1371/journal.pone.0168672
PubMed ID 28103238
Scopus ID 2-s2.0-85010028273
Web of science ID WOS:000392381100004

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